Highland Council in deep water over Doll Ford river rescue near Brora
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Highland Council has come under fire after an unwary motorist and passenger became stranded in deep water and had to be rescued by emergency services while crossing a ford in Sutherland.
Local residents say they have repeatedly asked the local authority to replace depth markers at the Doll Ford across the river Brora which would have warned the motorist that the water was too deep to cross.
It is claimed that the incident was avoidable and took up emergency service resources which could have been needed elsewhere.
Fire crews from Golspie and Dornoch and a local ambulance crew were called out to the scene at around lunchtime last Thursday.
Dramatic pictures taken by a bystander show the car stuck in the middle of the ford, which is about a mile upstream from Brora and next to a footbridge.
Firefighters used throw lines and lifejackets to rescue the couple, whose identities have not been revealed to the Northern Times. It is understood they were treated for shock by the ambulance crew.
Their car was not removed from the river until Saturday, two days later.
A Doll resident, who asked not to be named, said the route, a right of way, was marked on Google maps and was increasingly being used by visitors, many on the North Coast 500 tourism route.
He said that locals knew when to avoid the crossing, made of rough stones, by checking a row of large boulders on the bottom side of the ford. If the boulders were not visible, then it was too dangerous to cross.
“The council put 6ft depth markers at both sides, but over time these were washed away and have never been replaced,” he said. “I know for a fact there are some in the council store to replace these, but they are not much use sitting in a store.
“We brought the issue to the attention of the roads manager and contacted Highland Council several times last year when the river was low enough to install the depth markers. The issue has become more apparent in recent years with the increase in tourism as a result of NC500.”
He added: “It was a great job by the emergency services and thankfully no one was hurt. Our concern is that already stretched emergency services were tied up with this incident when they could have been needed elsewhere for a more critical incident.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “There are markers in stock to replace those that were washed away a number of years ago, but the work to replace them has had to be prioritised along with all other road maintenance activities throughout Sutherland.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 12.58pm on Thursday, February 1, to reports of a car in water at the Doll near Brora.
“Operations Control mobilised two appliances to the scene where crews rescued two people using throw lines and life jackets. Both of them were transferred into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
“Crews left after ensuring the area was made safe."
